In this article, we will show you how to upgrade Domain Controller from Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server 2016 in-place.
Note: It is recommended to promote a domain controller on a new server Windows 2016 and then demote the old one. However, for many small companies, they have only one DC and in-place upgrade is their only option.
A. Collect info
1. Open a command prompt, go to c:\Windows\system32, and then type systeminfo.exe. Copy and save the resulting system information.
2. Type ipconfig /all into the command prompt, and then save the resulting configuration information into the same location as above.
3. Open the Registry Editor, go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion hive, and then copy and paste the Windows Server BuildLabEx (version) and EditionID (edition) into the same location as above.
B. Prepare
1. Windows 2016 domain controller requires the domain functional level to be 2003 or higher. To check the domain functional level, open Active Directory Domains and Trusts. Right click on the domain and then Property.
2. To do in-place upgrade of an existing domain controller to the Windows Server 2016, you need to run adprep /forestprepand adprep /domainprepmanually.
Adprep.exe is in Windows server 2016 DVD Support>Adprep folder.
When running adprepe /forestprep, you will receive the warning, enter C and press Enter to continue.
3. Ru dcdiagto check the status of DC health
For example, dcdiag /test:DNS
4. Verify current AD schema by running Powershell (in elevated mode) and run following command:
Get-ADObject (Get-ADRootDSE).schemaNamingContext -Property objectVersion
You can see objectversion is showing as 69, which means we have “Windows Server 2012 R2” schema.
C. Installation
1. From Windows Server 2016 DVD, right click on setup.exe and select “Run as Administrator“.
2. Select Yes to start the setup process.
3. Next page will show Get updates, drivers and optional features. Select “Not right now” and click on Next.
4. In Select Image, click on Windows Server 2016 Standard (Desktop Experience).
5. In Application notices and license terms, click Next.
6. In Choose what to keep, check Keep personal files and apps since we are doing in-place upgrade.
7. Click Install in Ready to install.
8. It starts installing Windows Server 2016. It may take 30 minutes to complete it.
D. Check the status of DC and test after your upgrade is done
1. Run dcdiag to check any errors.
2. Test login, access websites and more.
Please view this step by step video:
